Trees the focus of SW Woodlot Association’s Feb. 29 information day

The South West Woodlot Association will be featuring two speakers discussing the history or local forests and how they are being affected by invasive species at the association’s annual information day on Feb. 29.

A news release from the association said these are important topics for woodlots because some species of trees have suffered due to invasive species.

The American chestnut was once abundant in Southwestern Ontario and used for feeding people, livestock and wildlife, as well as a source of rot-resistant wood for furniture. However, Chinese chestnuts were brought over in the early 1900s and came with a fungus that had killed millions of trees by 1950, according to the release.

“Furthermore, some of its dependent insects, including ten species of moth, disappeared with them,” the release said.

In 2002, U.S. biologists identified the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which made its way into local forests.

“Twenty-six species of butterfly that depend on the ash as their host are disappearing with the falling trees,” according to the release. “The economic loss in the U.S. alone is estimated at $282 billion.”

David Nisbet, the partnership and science manager at the Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will be one of the speakers. He has studied the ecological impacts and management of the emerald ash borer and worked with the Canadian Forest Service on detecting and trapping the species.

He will give a presentation called Invasive Species’ Risks to Southern Ontario Forests.

The other speaker is Larry Cornelis, a Wallaceburg resident and member of the Sydenham Field Naturalists. He is a certified horticulturalist and habitat specialist with Return the Landscape Sarnia and a flora and fauna inventory consultant.

Cornelis’ presentation is called The History of Our Local Forests.

The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre Complex at 3310 Walnut St. in Alvinston.